Shifting Mist
by Experiment Designation Nova
Summary: Chrome had no desire to live at least not until Murkuro and Tsuna. Jalecia on the other hand had no reason to die. So she inherited the body of the girl who had no desire to live so that she could exert her desire to live.
1. The World I was Born to

**Disclaimer:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn! © Akira Amano

 **Synopsis:** Chrome had no desire to live at least not until Mukuro and Tsuna. _She_ on the other hand had no reason to die. So she inherited the body of the girl who had a desire to die so that she could exert her desire to live.

 **Story Type:** Hitman Reborn! AU!

 **Chapter 1**

 _The World I was born_ to

Seven years, six months, five weeks, four days, three hours, two minutes, one second.

My mother sat hunched over beside my bed. She was tired. I knew it, they knew it and she knew it. She sat there hunched over from the beginning. The moment seven years ago when I was diagnosed, then six months later when it acted up, then the five weeks when I was given my death sentence. The unconditional love and sheer dedication she gave was one that I always wondered how could someone devote so much of their life to another? When I asked I was given a half-assed response of _"you are my daughter"_ no elaboration, she had deemed the matter to be resolved. I was to take the answer I was given.

So I did. I resigned myself to be bedridden to never see the outside of my room. And some way along the line I had taken to counting my days, every day I woke up it was marked, printed neatly into my notebook that sat beside me on the insignificant piece of plastic I was forced to share with my neighbour. If any consolation was to be given it should have gone to my friend, the girl never missed a visit that she promised. Coming to tell me of all the scandal and mishap I was missing at school. Who won the latest game of cricket to who fought whom over whom. Even tales of teachers and her imagination weaved themselves into report not that I was unappreciated of. It brought me joy to hear of the outside world. A world I could no longer visit.

Sometimes when she left I would cry, cry over the loss of the ability to share her experiences and imagine. Imagine that tropical breeze and the ability to complain about the scorching heat I would have to endure five days a week in a white cotton blouse and grey skirt with a navy blue and deep gold tie, socks and shoes, a uniform that I detested. It was the simple things I found myself missing, the harsh, biting laughter of my friends and schoolmates and the constant crooning of my mother to " _speak properly!_ " My _state_ as my cousin had so _eloquently_ put it had allowed for such reprimands to be swept aside.

I sighed. The look of sympathy that had graced the tight faces of the doctors was the last thing I saw as my mother left for the night and my eyes fluttered to a close.

My dreams were never the type to be expansive over rigidly detailed. So when my eyes opened and I found myself standing amidst a field of pink tipped lotus flowers, I was floored. It was beautiful. A place truly made of dreams.

" _Ano…"_ the timid voice behind me was my only warning that I was not alone.

I whirled around and regarded my companion. She was younger than me, sporting purple hair and a shy demeanour. A smile tugged at my lips as I watched the girl try to hide behind her hair.

I took a step forward and watched as she cringed, so I stopped and raised my hands to show I wouldn't hurt her. She watched me with guarded eyes almost as though expecting me to suddenly attack her.

"Hi, I'm Jalecia and you are?" I asked she blinked and stared at me.

" _Ano…anata o wakaranai."_ It was my turn to stare at the girl.

With my brow scrunched up I regarded the girl, this time I took in her features, from the difference in bone structure to the milky white of her skin. She was pretty in a doll like fashion thin and with doe like eyes that heightened her innocence. I contrasted her. Whereas she was milky white I was an unbreakable black, not in the sense that my skin was that dark I was brown but I wore my African heritage proudly. Her purple hair and eyes were replaced on me with black hair neatly twisted and dark brown eyes.

"Um…" distinctly I heard my mother's words of " _What is um?"_ as she would correct me and I cringed inwardly before saying in my most pitiful voice, "watashi wa Jalecia."

The girl smiled and nodded at my unasked question before saying, "Watashi wa Nagi."

I beamed at the girl and then muttered to myself, "And there ends my knowledge in Japanese."

"I'm sorry." I refocused on the girl before me at her words.

"Pardon?" I tentatively asked.

"I'm sorry…for being a burden." She whispered.

"No worries." I told her and noted something of my surroundings.

I felt another presence. One that seemed to affect the landscape itself before it was predominately a field of flowers now a table and chairs had been added and a platform attached to an invisible house.

I walked over to the table and settled into a chair and I felt the difference. Where I sat was my mind completely and entirely and as I place my hands on the table I felt hers. I felt them mixing, taking and giving, an exchange of minds, effortlessly melding.

"Why are you here?" I asked curious.

Her soft smile fell from her lips and acknowledging it I said, "I'm dying. That's why I'm here. Well that's why I assume I'm here."

"So am I." she whispered.

"Weak immune system, guess I can easily say that I'm one of those few people that can be killed by the common cold, huh." I told her and her expression crumbled.

"A cat." I blinked and stared she smiled shyly, "I tried to rescue a cat and…I got hit by a car. My parents…they…"

I scowled. Her words about being a burden came back to me.

"Do you think that you would find peace?" she stared at me. "If you died do you think you would find peace?"

She nodded, "I wouldn't be a burden."

"Hmm, I wonder, would I find peace." _No, I wouldn't I would have too many regrets, too many._

"Ano… Jalecia-san." My mouth twitched at her difficulty in saying my name.

"Hai." I whispered the Japanese stiff as it fell from my lips.

"Take my body." Nagi said.

"Wuh?" I asked eloquently the Standard English I had been speaking dropping in my surprise.

"Exchange. You wish to live, yes?" at my nod she ploughed on, "I am not wanted and I… I have no desire to cause any more pain to anyone. So take my place and I will take yours."

Maybe I should have stopped to think of the consequences; maybe I should have been selfless and told her to keep on living. That she would never find the peace she sought in death. But I was given a chance to live again and I thought only of myself. And as I stepped past the table into her mind and she stepped past the table into mine. I had no regrets. Not one. No guilt filled me. And that later down the road would scare me but for now I would _live_.

And in a hospital bed in a world I knew, eyes closed and deep within the clutches of sleep, seventeen year old Jalecia Kellman slipped away amidst the patrons of Ward seven in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital situated in the capital of her beloved home.


	2. The World I transmigrated to

**Disclaimer:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn! © Akira Amano

 **Synopsis:** Chrome had no desire to live at least not until Mukuro and Tsuna. Jalecia on the other hand had no desire to die. So she inherited the body of the girl who had a desire to die so that she could exercise her desire to live.

 **Story Type:** Hitman Reborn! AU!

 **Vocab:** Shine = Die

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _The World I transmigrated to_

Waking to the steady beat of the cardiac monitor was the first greeting I got in waking into _her world, her body._ The steady rhythm I heard of the monitor would soon become my constant companion along with the doctors that regularly visited the body I had come to inhabit.

Hours turned into days and then weeks and finally at a month I received a visitor. A woman, her face pinched, a sour expression gracing what would have been a beautiful face. Then she began talking. Her voice high pitched and whining, it was then that I realized with a jolt a major problem. _I couldn't understand a word she was saying._

The only things I could understand Nagi. _Her_ name, though suppose it was my name now. The woman continued talking though to me it seemed more so that she was whining like a child who lost their toy. It gave the impression of someone spoiled and unused to responsibility. I listened, I didn't understand but I still listened. Listened to the sound of the language that I would have to learn and get used to. The woman paused suddenly and moved closer to me. Hovering over the bed she glanced down at me. I called it glancing because she didn't look at me. She saw a child in the bed but she did not acknowledge it. It was simply a _burden._

She contorted her face and with a hideous sneer she hissed, _"Shine!"_

I stared up at her as she repeated the word and at the end of her tirade I said one single word. The one she spent five minutes hissing and spitting at me. With the most dispassionate tone I could manage I uttered my first word in this new body.

"Shine."

She huffed turning away and like the child she was stomped off. I snorted silently. My eyes growing heavy and body began shutting down as I began to drift off to sleep. These days I dreamt of nothing. My mind too tired to formulate shapes or the vast vivid amount of colours that usually bombarded me in my dreams of nothingness. Now it was more like a self-induced haze of a black abyss.

So as I opened my eyes to be greeted by a familiar sight of a field of lotus flowers. I smiled. At peace amongst the rustling breeze and sweet lotus scent though my happiness was short lived as I spun around this time content to take in the expansive reach of the field. Only I was greeted by an unfamiliar addition. A single solitary gazebo furnished with two white chairs and a glass table. Honestly it would not have been that significant had it not been for the boy that sat in one of the chairs, a wicked smile on his lips as he regarded me with wolfish eyes.

"Hello." My voice was tinged with suspicion and the smile turned coy at the sound of it.

"My, my, isn't this interesting." His voice was smooth and pleasant.

"What is so interesting?" I inquired and he chuckled good-naturedly.

I narrowed my eyes at the boy. Something about him seemed familiar. It was like I saw his face somewhere. He continued to smile almost as though we were buddies, "A soul who has cheated death."

I froze. The glint in his eyes told me he had seen the minuscule tensing of my muscles. I forced myself to relax and a frown wormed its way onto my face. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze, it was all knowing, superior and I hated it.

At the intensifying of my frown the boy's smile began to resemble one that could be attributed to the phrase the cat that caught the canary. And suddenly staring into those heterochromia eyes became disconcerting and I had to look away.

"What do you want from me?" I asked after much deliberation.

He hummed and with a voice filled with a tone that could only be described as lethargy said, "your body."

"My…body?" I muttered under my breath before scoffing.

As far as I could tell there was no other presence I could sense. I was dominant here. At this revelation my confidence grew and glared at the boy. Twisting my mouth into a light frown I said," No."

The boy laughed once again and I felt the world beneath us begin to shift and churn. Fear filled me and the boy's mouth curled into a crooked smile. Regarding me he uttered, "amuse me." A fire coursed through my veins as hate filled me. I was not a toy. I was not some helpless little girl at the command of others, especially little boys who had no regard for those who they deemed beneath them. I felt the world oppress me, physically and mentally weighing me down. The weight was too much and I began to gasp for breath. Until I realised that I was in fact drowning. In a tube filled with water in a place were no light could reach me.

And I was not alone. I saw them both, two boys, one free to roam the world and the other anchored to it. Hatred and despair surrounded them both, clinging to them as a child clung to its mother. A constant companion, one I did not want. So I pushed, pushed with every fibre of my being this image from my mind. Doubling over as I focused, as I rejected this world and then as my ears gave a soundless pop I felt the world shift.

Opening my eyes I was not greeted by my original world but a variant of it. One filled with cracks and tainted flowers. I sank to the ground, tired.

"Nagi." My head jerked upwards at the name I now would have call myself.

"Yes." I breathed and the boy offered his hand.

"I need you."

Those three little words meant so much and offered so little in return. If I took it what would I get? How would I survive? I stared at his hand and I hesitated. With my eyes narrowed I stared at him.

"And what do I get? What do I get from you?"

"Power."

This time without hesitation I took his hand. Power meant survival and _I_ wanted to survive, the world dissolved around me and as the darkness that created it began to be edged with grey as my mind began to awaken. The boy smiled softly and as he disappeared he whispered two words.

Two words that I awoke with on my lips, two words that bound me to him, two simple almost insignificant words and my purple eye flickered open I whispered it gently to simply to hear them for myself.

 _Mukuro Rokudo_


	3. The World I escaped to

**Disclaimer:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn! © Akira Amano

 **Synopsis:** Chrome had no desire to live at least not until Mukuro and Tsuna. Jalecia on the other hand had no desire to die. So she inherited the body of the girl who had a desire to die so that she could exercise her desire to live.

 **Story Type:** Hitman Reborn! AU!

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _The World I escaped to_

It felt odd. No, it was uncomfortable, that was the word I was looking for. I had grown far too accustomed to the emptiness that was my stomach. To the needle that delivered nutrients into my body. As a result I felt _it_ when the power crawled into my body, the organs taking shape. Twisting and turning and blooming, pushing my stomach outward giving shape to the sunken balloon.

My organs regrew one at a time. One day a part from each other. As to give me time to grow accustomed to their presence. My thoughts wondered to my doctors, more specifically to their reactions at my regrown organs. Humans did not have that ability. My questions turned fears at being questioned on this new development were unfounded. They were unaware, unaware that I had new organs. My doctors never treated my stomach's condition without anything more than a passing glance. I was devoid of any organs in that cavern, _why should they care_? I would die without organs to process food and liquid. My days were numbered and I was kept comfortable. Everything they could do was done.

So I endured quietly. Flinching in discomfort as new organs filled my stomach. At night I lifted the mask from my face and pulled from my arm the needle that sustained me. At night I taught myself how to walk on shaky legs. My first conquest: make it to the door of my room. Stumbling and falling became a nightly occurrence. Yet I prevailed. During the day I formulated plans to leave. The notion I carried with me was _he_ would give me organs and power but I had to get myself out of my situation. I could not depend on him, not for this. For this he would abandon me.

At first leaving during the night after my doctors did their final rounds was my plan. However, the possibility that I would be stopped at the front desk was too great. I had no organs in my stomach. Questions would be asked on how I could move in my condition. That idea was scrapped. My next idea was one that required patience. It was also the one that would result in a higher probability in my escape. I would have to wait for an emergency. Then with the distraction it created I would leave.

Thus I needed my ability to move. As a result nightly walks became a norm. As did trekking down widely commuted areas as I needed practice in stealth. My last organ regrew on the day of my second body CT scan. It was one my _father_ –well _Nagi's_ father- had ordered, to see the extent of the damage, to see if it had _gone away_. I paid no heed to their arguments. Stretching my fingers so that they curled around the pictures the device had taken. Lifting it I noted no change. My stomach was empty, simply a sad lump of empty flesh. Yet my doctors regarded the fully formed stomach on my body with curious eyes. I listened to their conversation. Picking out words amongst the warbled mess I heard them speak.

Nagi's parents were ushered out of the room the moment her mother's voice turned shrill and whining. I didn't care. My eye followed as they left and my ears prickled at the sound of sharp rings. A pager tucked into the white jacket of my physicians. I listened as the doctor's voice became rushed and grew distant. I noted I could no longer hear my parents' either. Not that I wanted too. Deft fingers seized the needle in my arm. Pulling it out and placing it gently on the table beside me. Next went the mask. Lifted effortlessly over my head and then I turned my attention to the wires attached to the little white suction over my heart. Tugging them I pulled it off my skin. The cardiac machine fell silent and I waited. Waited for a nurse to rush into the room, panic written over her face but no one came. Maybe it was because I could not move or simply incompetence.

Either way I slid my feet over the smooth sheets and placed them on the cold floor. Pushing myself up I rocked uncertainly. Anticipation curled in my stomach. Then I placed one foot in front the other. Silently I walked the width of the room. My fingers shaking as I turned the knob of the door. After so many nights of practice, this was it. The grand finale. I took a deep breath and strode out the room. Then I glided down the hall careful not make a sound. I sighed softly as I reached the metal doors of the elevator without much of a fuss. Pressing the arrow pointing downward adrenaline coursed through my veins.

"This is it." I whispered the English words feeling odd in this body.

The metal doors slid open and I slipped in. My head dipped. Allowing my hair to hide my face as fear coursed through my veins. It was irrational. However, it frightened me to be caught. To be seen. Peeking from under the strands of my hair I reached over and pressed the button with the single line carved into it. Distantly I hoped that I was right in my choice. I bit my lip. My hands clasped in front of me. A pathetic notion that I assumed would grant me my wish. The small smile that tugged at my lips when the doors slid open and I stepped out to see the waiting room was all I could do to express my joy.

My next obstacle was to make it to the front door. To leave this dreaded place. Weaving in and out of the congregation of people that swarmed the open area was easy. In the sense I was ignored. In the sense I was small and unnoticeable. Even in the gaudy white hospital gown that I wore. I froze. I froze moments before I accomplished my wish for freedom. I froze before the clear glass doors that separated me from the outside world. I froze because these walls guarded me, protected me even. I however, shook that off. I had power. I would survive. I would live. Yes, outside where I had been kept from in my past body. I would live, out there.

So I did. I bounded out the doors, running adrenaline filtering throughout my body as I put distance between me and that institution. I didn't stop until my lungs burst and drawing a breath became painful. My conscious mind also noted the absence of _him_ , Mukuro. His power had filtered out of my system the moment my last organ grew back. Well not all of it. It still lingered but only enough to keep my organs from giving out or in this case ceasing to exist.

I shuddered violently. Coughs raking my body as I was bombarded with different scents. Some more potent than others, my stomach churned as it demanded food. Rocks and debris sunk into my uncovered feet. I didn't care. What I cared about was what I needed to do next. I already had power. Well at least the promise of power. Now I needed knowledge. Power was useless without knowledge.

I stumbled forward my body empty but I was high on euphoria. I needed to plan because I was all alone without guidance or resources. As the night stretched on I put more distance between Nagi's old life and I. Before I did anything else I needed to learn. Learn the language and the customs and the ways of this world that I had escaped to.


	4. The World I became accustomed to

**Disclaimer:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn! © Akira Amano

 **Synopsis:** Chrome had no desire to live at least not until Mukuro and Tsuna. Jalecia on the other hand had no desire to die. So she inherited the body of the girl who had a desire to die so that she could exercise her desire to live.

 **Story Type:** Hitman Reborn! AU!

Vocab: _Koban wa = Good Evening_

 _Oneesan = Big sister_

 _Sayonara = Goodbye_

 _Ohayo =Good Morning_

Arigatō = Thank you

 _baka na onna = stupid girl/woman_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4**_

 _The World I became accustomed to_

For once in my life I survived on the generosity of others. I was huddled on the corner of the narrowest alley when I was found by my saviour. It was a child no older than seven and untainted by the evils of the world. I sat with my knees drawn to chest and filth clung to me like a second skin. The child strode forward. From where I sat I could see the curiosity shining through his eyes. Kneeling down he whispered in a lilting voice, " _Konban wa, oneesan."_

I stared dully at the child. Then I repeated carefully the words that he had whispered at me. The child tilted his head and purposefully he repeated his sentence. Though I noted that he repeated his sentence slowly then he stared at me. Waiting, eyes bright so I repeated after him. He corrected me when I uttered the wrong syllable. He smiled happily at my ability to say a single phrase and beamed with pride at the fact he taught it to me. Suddenly he rose from his position and called, " _sayonara_ " as he ran out of the alleyway.

I slinked back into the darkness of the alley. Closing my eyes and drifting off into an uncomfortable sleep. My dreams did not take me back to that meadow. To the wonderful reprieve in my mind but sometimes I felt it. That power. It shifted and churned like unending storm within my mind. When I tried to grasp it, it slipped from my reach. It extended outward uncoiling and slithering away as though it had a mind of its own. Yet I never stopped trying to grasp it. My inability to touch it, to control it only fuelled my frustration and my dreams became even more chaotic as time progressed.

Almost a week passed before the child reappeared. This time he came burdened weighed down by knapsack that he had strapped across his back. His eyes roamed the alley before settling on me. He dropped the bag and said – more confidently than last time- " _Ohayo neesan."_

Blandly I slowly reiterated his words. Softly I said, " _Ohayo."_ The child beamed. Then with much enthusiasm he dug through his bag. Pulling out children books and handing them to me. Then he settled beside me, opening the first book and reading it softly and slowly to me. As he did this my mind drifted back to my childhood. I remembered my grandfather's friend bring a lady who only spoke Spanish to our house. We – my cousin and I- provided the basics. When she came we sat with her and read together helping her sound out the words from my children books such as _At the Sea_.

The child was doing the same. He even pointed at the words as he read them. For that I was thankful. Also he never ventured farther than the chapter. He read it through with me repeating after every word. Then he read it. To show how syllables interacted with each other and then he made me read it. Every chapter ended with me reading by myself. And I was never allowed to move on until I read it with the least amount of mistakes. This continued for a week. Every time he left he pointed to the next book in the collection that he left with me. It was expected that I would read and familiarise myself with the content. Then when he returned I had to read the book to him. He would then correct my mistakes before moving on.

The child became a welcomed reprieve as did the snacks he occasionally brought and left which elevated my hunger somewhat. I smiled gently as the child ran towards me at the end of week.

"Akira" the child blinked up at me from the book we shared in his hands. "Arigatō."

"Ile, thank you oneesan." Akira murmured shyly.

As night rolled in Akira packed up his bag and ran off calling out " _goodbye_ " as he left. I settled in for a restless night. My dreams did not endlessly shift as they did before for a moment the power that wrecked turmoil in my subconscious. It had settled in the pit of my stomach. It still acted as water slipping through my fingers as I tried to grab it. Distinctly as I woke I smelt the faint scent of lotus blossoms and a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.

* * *

I awoke with a gift. I awoke in a park, on a bench with an iron trident lying beside me. I blinked dully and surveyed my surroundings. I then drew my knees to my chest. The wind battered on my thin frame. Curling my fingers around the trident I brought to eye level to examine it. Curious as to how I got it. Though my curiosity did not last long as it seemed the trident was the precursor to what was to come.

"Tch, _kakki-pi_! Where is the _baka na onna_!" a voice yelled.

Two boys stepped into view. One was blonde and the other had his hair covered by a beanie. The blonde one had a scar stretched across his face, from check to check and a scowl that looked permanently etched onto his face. It was his loud exclamation that dragged my attention from the trident in my hands. His companion only sighed and ignored him. His attention was diverted. He surveyed his surroundings with an apathetic look on his face.

Fear crawled up my spine when his eyes landed on me. I gripped the trident with all the strength I could muster. Praying for all I was worth for him not to come in my direction or to me. Turning ever so slightly to the blonde he said, " _Ken._ "

"Eh? _Kakki-pi_?" the blonde, Ken, questioned before his eyes fell on me.

Then his nose wrinkled in disgust as he stomped over. Stopping shortly, just in front of me he glared. I shrunk back. The boy sniffed me and growled. He turned back to his companion and began to rant. Honestly he was talking too fast for me to translate. Though I figured that between calling me _baka na onna_ and the rigorous finger jabbing in my direction he did not approve of my presence.

The one with the beanie simply ignored him and motioned for me to follow. I hesitated. The boy pointed to himself and said, "Chikusa Kakimoto."

"Nagi." I whispered.

Chikusa nodded and muttered a single name, " _Mukuro-sama._ "

It was my turn to nod and smile gently. Ken shoved me to the side and began shouting at Chikusa. Out of the garbled mess of words yelled I picked a few that I understood.

"Useless… Mukuro-sama…leave…" and that phrase. The one I realised would hate from now on. _Baka na Onna._ It was my turn to scowl. Gritting my teeth I glared at the boy. I felt my stomach churn and the contents boil. And for once I was in control; for once I could effortlessly mould the power within me. And I pushed. Like an elastic band it snapped and I felt bleed through my pores and explode off my skin. And the last thing I saw before my body shut down completely where thick green vines and white pink tipped lotus blossoms.


	5. The World I Accepted (I)

**Disclaimer:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn! © Akira Amano

 **Synopsis:** Chrome had no desire to live at least not until Mukuro and Tsuna. _She_ on the other hand had no reason to die. So she inherited the body of the girl who had a desire to die so that she could exert her desire to live.

 **Story Type:** Hitman Reborn! AU!

 **Author's Note:** My sincerest apologies to any and all readers/people who have favourited and/or followed this story for the **extremely** late and almost complete year before an update. Upper Six is a killer as well as exams. Anywho I want to thank the aforementioned people who have followed and/or favourited and/or reviewed and/or read this story. Also constructive criticism accepted.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5**_

 _The World I accepted (I)_

Ken and I did not mix. We were comparable to a volcano in that aspect. It was simply like taking baking soda and vinegar mixing them and waiting for the inevitable explosion that would follow. Chikusa figured this out quite fast. When I awoke, I was seated on a train. Questionable looks were flashed in my direction and they were ignored. I sighed, trying to shift myself into a more comfortable position. My body felt like lead. Fatigue washed over me and my eye began to drift to a close.

" _Che_ ," a voice above scoffed then mumbled words drifted into my hazy subconscious.

I tried to straighten myself. As I peered around, searching for the source of the voice. A tired eye flickered upwards. My vision zeroed in on blonde hair and a disgruntled frown. _Ken._ That was what my mind supplied. What my mouth issued was in fact, " _Inu._ " Shock flashed across his face before anger settled in. Without warning he nudged me off his shoulder and into Chikusa, who simply stared. Boredom etched plainly across his face.

Ken rose from his seat. His body leaned toward me, one hand curled into a fist and the other sliding into his jacket pocket. All I saw was a flash of white, something shaped like teeth before Chikusa was up and holding him back. I had slid onto the lap of the seat. My eye now fixated on the roof of the train. The only question on my mind was ' _why did Ken have dentures?'_ a mystery that lingered in my brain as I drifted back to sleep.

I was shaken awake by Chikusa. Ken stood behind him growling at the other passengers before stomping out of the train when it came to a stop. Blinking I stared passively at him that is until he grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. _This was our stop_. Once I was standing he turned to follow Ken and I reached out in a moment of shyness and grabbed his shirt sleeve. Chikusa briefly glanced at me before walking after a loudly complaining Ken.

"Jesus," I whispered "he's like a frigging puppy!"

Ken whirled around and stared at me no sooner had I uttered those words. Eyes narrowed he stomped over to us. Standing directly above us he hissed, " _Nani?_ "

I flinched back. So he had heard. Heard but not understood. Though he had picked up on what I was saying by the tone in which it was said. Swallowing slightly I pointed at him repeated the word for dog, " _Inu_." He twitched.

I could see his muscles coiling beneath his skin. He was getting ready to pounce. There was a pause, a moment of hesitation before he gritted his teeth and marched off. I blinked and my lips curled into a malicious smile. A devious thought running idly through my head, however, before I could act on that thought Chikusa who had ignored us up until this point simply continued walking tugging me along after him.

I squinted as we exited the train station my eyes taking time to adjust to the bright light of the sun. Chikusa's eyes flickered down at me and he said simply, "Namimori."

I nodded and watched as Ken slinked off in the opposite direction of the town. Chikusa did not follow. Instead he headed towards the town. My eye drifted from shop to person and back again taking in the market place itself. It was so vividly different than the bland white walls of the hospital I was forced to inhabit that I stood and gapped openly at the liveliness and quaintness of this market place. Chikusa tugged me along whenever I stopped. Almost an instance of hurry in a usually lethargic boy.

I wondered distinctly where we were going until Chikusa stopped suddenly. In front of a store whose name was all but gibberish to me. My meagre skills in Japanese had failed me in this venture. I noted Chikusa's eyes on me and I glanced up before my eyes slid to the store again. Clearly he was waiting for me to enter. Steeling myself-for whatever reason- I released my hold on Chikusa's sleeve and picked my way inside.

I ignored the far to chipper greeting of the sales lady as I entered. Her smile dropped slightly probably from my rudeness or dishevelled appearance, take your pick. Either one could have been the cause. Or it could have been Chikusa himself, or at least the uniform he wore. Seeing as she took one look at it and went completely rigid.

" _Chikusa_ …" I started and the boy gazed sleepily at me.

" _Hai_." Purple eyes waited for my question.

" _Ano_ …" Not exactly sure how to phrase it my eyes slid between the frozen salesclerk and his clothes.

He looked away and sat down.

"Rude much." I hissed under my breath as I surveyed the clothes before me.

Trying on the clothes was out of the question. I was filthy. Filith clung to me like a second skin and I probably didn't smell like a rose either. So I was going to have to guess my size. That shouldn't be hard. I was skin and bones, so everything in medium or above size 16 would hang off of my body like a coat. A matter of fact size sixteen would probably hang off my body because of the extra material.

It took me all of 30 minutes to chose respectable, moderately girly and cheerful looking clothes. Any slight panic over payment was resolved with Chikusa whipping out a credit card. I distinctly wondered if it was stolen. Then we were walking away from the town. To the outskirts.

Our final destination was a run down 'warehouse' that was in violation of so many health and safety codes it was scary. It almost made me wish I was still in the hospital with its nice, sterile and bleach soaked walls. _Almost._

Entering the grounds Chikusa gave a simple, " _Kyokuo Land"_ and I nodded. I repeated it under my breath and at every hitch, every mispronunciation Chikusa intoned it again until I got it right. My eye drifted across the barren, broken down wasteland I would have to live in and tried not to let my disgust show. They were nice enough to buy me clothes, _with stolen money_ , and their leader allowed me, _still allowing me_ , to live so I would keep my complaints to myself.

I was living.

 _That_ was enough.


	6. The World I accepted (II)

**_Chapter 6_**

 ** _The World I accepted (II)_**

 ** _Authors Note: I am so sorry for the lateness of this chapter but I was suffering from severve writers block. I started writing it and just would not come out how I wanted. However, I tried my best this is what I got and I hope that you enjoy it. I would also like to thank EVERYONE who has REVIEWED, FAVOURITED AND/OR FOLLOWED this story. It really means a lot._**

* * *

At first I had assumed that I would be going to school with them and as such when Chikusa and Ken were leaving after their three day absence I had latched onto Chikusa's sleeve so that I could go with them. Ken had stared at me in confusion before it morphed into incredulous laughter. I narrowed my eyes but before I could say anything Chikusa simply placed his hand on my head and nudged me off gently. My face fell. I wanted to go with them.

Here I would be left alone, with simply myself and my thoughts and that was not an appealing notion. At least to me it wasn't.

" _No. Books…work._ " Chikusa muttered simply.

I frowned. Not only was he leaving me by myself but with work to do. Oh Joy! I let him go and stomped back over to the dirty, solitary green sofa. I flounced myself down on it jolting the pencils and exercise books that were lain there out of place and onto the floor. I drew up my feet to my chest and glared dispassionately at them.

" _Ken and I…bring…food later._ " Chikusa stated unperturbed by my behaviour.

I nodded to indicate that I understood. I followed them with my eyes. Watching with nothing less than pure annoyance as they left the hideout they had hidden me in. Chikusa glided out of the room without so much as glance behind him while Ken turned slightly and stuck out his tongue at me and laughed. My eyes narrowed further into a glare and I raised my head high enough so that I could be heard and stated just as dispassionately as Chikusa, "I suppose staying here is better than being with a tick riddled _Inu_."

Ken paused and his face fell from the superior smile into a ferocious glare. His teeth bared he stalked towards me growling. His mouth opened and I watched as his hand slid from in his pocket into his mouth.

" _Ken…leave her…Mukuro-sama_." Chikusa's voice interrupted making me jump slightly as I had not noticed he had returned and the blonde hissed under breath before turning around.

" _Take care, Chikusa…Baka-Inu._ " I intoned softly and the beanie wearing teen stared at me momentarily before nodding. Ken just growled and stomped off.

I glared after him. As he disappeared from my line of sight my glare fell and a heavy sigh escaped my lips. I placed my head on my arms that were crossed over my knees pressed against my chest. I peered at the peeling walls. At the dull fading colour of the paint. The silence was crushing. Loneliness crept into my gut.

My toes curled into the fabric of the sofa and I sighed heavily. I reached down and scooped up the pencils and exercise books within my grasp. I balanced them on my knees as I frowned and glared half-heartedly at them.

It was either this or stew in silence until the others came back.

I picked open the book and stared balefully at its contents. Soon I was dragging the pencil across the paper as I filled out the exercises within. The only thing that kept me company for a while was the sound of the pencil tip scratching the surface of the paper. But even as I did that. Even as I filled out wordlessly the excerises I had been left my mind wandered.

It wondered to the familiar presence that clung to me. That ensured that I survived by constantly feeding the fake organs I had been given. Then I remembered when I first met Chikusa and Ken. The feeling I had when I had moulded it and made it my own. When I made it tangible.

I placed the pencil down and shifted the book out of my lap. I stared at my hands for a moment before taking a deep breath and clamping my eye shut. I felt for that power again. And just like before it was there under my skin. Breathing and writhing, twisting into different shapes but always maintains a constant presence that sat happily in my gut.

I grabbed for it. It slipped through my fingers. It was just as before. It was like trying to grab water and hold onto it. But I needed to. I wanted to. I wanted to…grab and mould and control this…this power within me. I had managed to do it once I could do it again!

My brow furrowed as I continuously grasped and failed to grasp the power slinking through my body. I gritted my teeth. What was different? Why couldn't I do know as I did before? Why…?

I gritted my teeth and balled my hands into fists. I squeezed myself tightly into a ball. Envisioning the power beneath my skin, envisioning pushing it through my pores. Upwards and outwards of my skin. Releasing its hold on my body and making a mist, barely visible tendrils, around my body.

I gasped painfully. My body growing heavy. I pried open my eye and noted the presence of a thin circle of purple. A ring forming around my body and a tendrils of barely there purple strands.

" _Fufufu~ Most impressive my dear Nagi_ "

I gasped once more as black spots danced in my eye. I noticed hollowly that my stomach had started to cave in once again. I opened my mouth once again to suck in air as my body titled dangerously. But even as I did so I felt another at the tip of my consciousness. Gradually taking over as I fell to sleep.

"Mukuro-sama…"

" _Shh, Nagi. Sleep my dear. You have d_ one well."


End file.
